


Skyeward 2.0

by snarkysweetness



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Brother Grant Ward, Big Sister Skye, Dumb Team Bus Family, F/M, Found Families, Future Fic, Gen, Getting Back Together, Grant Ward Redemption, Nothing Exists after the REAL finale aka the Dirty Half Dozen, Philinda as Skye's Parents, That Finale Doesn't exist, Trip Lives, b/c I say so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 10:30:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4301307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkysweetness/pseuds/snarkysweetness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Grant Ward had wished to spend his life with Melinda May’s daughter this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind but here he was, covered in toddler vomit, all because Phil Coulson hadn’t been able to keep it in his pants.</p><p>a.k.a. the one where Grant Ward’s life revolves around Skye 2.0.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skyeward 2.0

**Author's Note:**

> You're welcome.

When Grant Ward had wished to spend his life with Melinda May’s daughter this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. Hell, if anyone had told him four years ago that his life would revolve around her he would have laughed from the sheer absurdity of it. But here he was, covered in toddler vomit, all because Phil Coulson hadn’t been able to keep it in his pants.

“Sowwy, bubba,” Stephanie Margaret Coulson whispered through sniffles with her big, brown eyes looking up at him with fat tears spilling out.

His face softened and he sat her on the counter, ignoring the urge to rip his shirt off, and shook his head, reaching for a towel to clean her up with. “Hey, no big deal, this is why we don’t eat your big sister’s cooking, right?”

She giggled, reminding him so much of Skye he had to keep from sighing.

She wasn’t the Coulson daughter he was madly in love with and she wasn’t his daughter and being Skye 2.0’s glorified babysitter wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he’d clawed his way back into this family but he’d take it; it was hard not to fall in love with that little face, especially when that face reminded him of the one he’d always imagined making with Skye, before he’d screwed everything up.

“I think you wike sissy, bubba,” Stephanie giggled as he tickled her sides gently, not wanting her to puke on him again.

“Oh yeah, why’s that?”

“Because you look at sissy the way daddy looks at mommy ‘fore he kisses her…how come you and sissy don’t kissy kissy like mommy and daddy?”

Grant’s face turned red and he shook his head, trying to think of a good enough excuse to get her off of the subject. He didn’t need her to run off and ask Skye the same thing, she hated him enough without the baby adding fuel to her hate fire.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiii sissy!”

He turned quickly, bumping his knee into a chair in the process, to find Skye in the kitchen doorway, looking stunned. He failed to keep his lovelorn sigh from escaping and averted his eyes, not wanting to make this worse. Skye stammered for a moment before reaching for her little sister.

“Uh…I have to…” She held the toddler up as an explanation.

“I was just…” He motioned to the vomit on his shirt and Stephanie pressed her fists to her mouth, giggling.

“Right, I should…bath time…come on, baby.”

Grant nodded and headed for the pantry, just to hide, as Skye all but ran out of the room, continuing the dance they’d engaged in for the past two years.

“But sissy, you forgot to kissy kissy him good-bye!” Stephanie screamed and Grant covered his face, embarrassed.

That kid was far too smart for his own good and a chatterbox. She wasn’t going to give up on this and he knew it; just like he hadn’t given up in her demands for him to be around all the time when she was an infant.

One could imagine everyone’s horror when Melinda May’s newborn would only stop screaming when one Grant Douglas Ward held her; aside from May’s ragey glares there was also a very angry Skye to deal with. At least Coulson had been thankful for the help; having skipped all the hard stuff with Skye he was just as lost as Grant was.

He’d had no idea how to handle a baby. All he knew was someone had dumped her into his arms a few days after she arrived at the base with her mom and kept everyone awake with her screams and she’s immediately stopped. That had been the most terrifying moment of his life, not because of the screaming baby, but because he was so sure in that moment that Melinda May was going to murder him.

And she would have if it hadn’t been abundantly clear that the only way that child was going to sleep was if he was the one putting her down; eventually May learned to live with it and he suddenly had a new woman in his life.

_“You know…I was hoping to do this with your sister?” He muttered to the sleeping baby on his chest. She continued to drool on him and he smiled, rubbing her back gently. She was adorable and looked exactly like Skye, just like their baby would…but they were never going to have a baby and he needed to stop having those thoughts._

_“Oy, mate, how did you manage to get both of Coulson’s girls to fall in love with you?”_

_Grant rolled his eyes and ignored Hunter’s suggestion. Skye had maybe loved him once but now?_

_Hate wasn’t a strong enough emotion for what she felt for him._

_“I think she likes my beard; must remind her of Steve’s.” Coulson’s hero had of course been present for the baby shower sporting a post-mission beard and Coulson showed it to his baby girl every chance he got, hoping to have another Captain America fanatic in the household._

_“That may be the baby’s excuse but I don’t think he’s Skye’s type, mate.”_

_Before Grant could throw his shoe at him Hunter ducked out of the room._

_“Like sister like mini-me, mate!” He called, leaving Grant grumpily muttering about how it wasn’t kind to mess with a man’s feelings like that._

As it turned out he may not have been wrong about baby Coulson having a thing for Steve Rogers.

The only time she wasn’t trotting along behind Grant was when Captain America himself was on the base.

_“Are you leaving me for Captain America, Stevie?” Grant teased one day when his shadow was missing and he found her trailing Skye touring Steve around the base like a duckling._

_Stephanie gasped loudly and jumped into his arms excitedly. “STEVE IS CAPTAIN AMERICA, BUBBA? DOES DADDY KNOW?”_

_Grant nearly fell over laughing. “Of course he does, why do you think your name is Stephanie?”_

_It took her a long minute to put it together before burying her neck in Grant’s in embarrassment._

_“There, there, kiddo, I’m sure if you ask nicely he’ll sign your shield.”_

_She gasped and jumped to the ground, waving good-bye as she ran for Coulson’s office._

_“DADDY! WHERE IS MY SHIELD!”_

_Grant sighed with a shake of his head._

_“Skye did the same thing when she met Steve,” May said, materializing from nowhere. He was too used to it by now to question how she did that._

_“Wasn’t Skye twenty when she met him?”_

_May gave him a ‘look’. “You’ve met my husband, right?” Grant nodded and she smiled. “They both inherited their father’s love of Captain America and my-”_

_“Everything else?” He offered and she chuckled._

_“I don’t know…Skye has horrible taste in men,” May said as she walked off. Grant tried not to let it sting, it was his fault for forgetting that no matter how okay she was with him being around the little one she still hated his guts. “But…I don’t know, maybe the little one had it right and there is some hope for the big one.”_

That was as close to an approval as he was ever going to get.

“Ward, what the hell are you doing hiding in here rubbing your knee?”

He stared down at May, unable to think of a good enough lie so he blurted out the truth. “I hit my knee and Skye took the baby for her bath and I think she has food poisoning or something!”

May stared at him, or rather glared, for a long moment before clearing her throat and hiding a smile. “So…you saw Skye and are now hiding in the pantry?”

“Um…ma…yes?” He answered, still rubbing his sore knee.

May rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot and I owe Phil a twenty,” she muttered, reaching for a box of pasta.

“For what?” He asked, trailing after her like a confused puppy.

“Because when Phil decided to buy your sob story about your family and Garrett and how sorry you were I told him you were going to turn on us someday but I was wrong; no one as stupid as you is evil.”

Grant should have been offended but instead he felt…relieved. “Thanks? I think.” May was admitting she trusted him…kind of. It wasn’t what he had with Coulson but it was the best he was going to get so he’d take it.

“Hi brudder, hi mommy!” Stephanie yelled as she zoomed past him to attach herself to her mother.

“No ‘bubba’?” He asked, offended. He didn’t know why she insisted he was ‘brother’ and not ‘uncle Grant’ or something else but he was and she couldn’t say ‘brother’ so he was ‘bubba’ and he’d grown attached to the name.

“I’m a big girl and I can says bruffer!” She announced before making a face. “Bru, Brof, no…Brud…” She huffed angrily. “Bubba!” She tried again, not realizing she still couldn’t say the word.

Grant reached out and ruffled her hair. “That’s right, kiddo. Good job.”

“Maybe someday she’ll learn how to say ‘asshole’ and that will be your name,” Skye muttered as she walked past him to help in the kitchen.

He watched her sadly for a moment before rushing out of the room, not wanting to make her uncomfortable with his presence.

“Someday you’re going to have to stop being mean to him; he’s in love with you, you know?”

“Must suck to be him then.”

Well, at least one woman on this base loved him. It wasn’t the one he wanted but he was used to not getting what he wanted.

Besides, who needed a relationship when you got to watch cartoons all day with someone who drew pictures of you as a super hero?

He’d gotten the cooler sister out of the deal and that was what he was going to tell himself every time his heart felt like it might stop beating because Skye Coulson existed and she didn’t love him the way he loved her.

He was a pathetic sap and someday even the little one would figure it out.

And Grant knew that would be the day his heart truly broke.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“He’s in love with you, you know?”

Skye ignored her mother and got water ready for boiling since it was the only thing she knew how to do in the kitchen. It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out, everyone knew that idiot was in love with her, even the kid.

“Must suck to be him then.”

Melinda sighed and set the baby in her seat.

“What was that for?” Skye snapped, irritated. It was one thing that the kid kept asking her why she didn’t love ‘bubba’ and for her dad to keep telling her how much he’d changed but for her mom to turn on her to?

Her mom gave her a sad look and shook her head. “Nothing…it’s just…my daughter used to believe in people and second chances and wasn’t angry all the time; I don’t know who you are some days.” She turned her attention to the baby, dropping the subject. “Now, what did you eat to make you throw up everywhere?”

“Sissy made macaroni cheese!”

“Well, sissy did her best, I’m sure, but let’s make sure you’re-”

Skye didn’t hear the rest of their conversation because she’d stormed out of the room. How dare her mother call her moody and bitter? She knew full well _he_ was the reason she was like this. He’d broken her heart and killed agents and he’d lied to everyone and she was just supposed to forgive him because her dad had? She didn’t care how much he tried to repair the past the damage was done.

As if it wasn’t bad enough her little sister worshipped him and she was forced to have him around now they expected her to be nice to him?

Why? Because of his poor, fragile little heart?

What about her heart?

No one seemed to care about how she felt, not since he’d come back.

Skye was going to sit dinner out, she was not in the mood for the team or him or her parents or watching her mini-me babble about the day she and her best friend Grant Ward had just had.

Grant Ward.

Just thinking his name made her…

Skye wiped at her eyes angrily.

She hated him and someday the kid would see what he really was and then she’d become her baby sister’s favorite, the way she was supposed to be.

God, she hated him so much.

If she saw him now she’d kick him in the shin.

Skye rounded a corner and came face-to-face with the idiot puppy who jumped back like she had kicked him. “I’m sorry, I was-”

“I don’t care, just get out of my face.”

She didn’t even bother to look back as she pushed past him.

Grant Ward was everywhere she looked and honestly, she was sick of it.

Maybe it was time for a long mission away from the base, just to have some time to herself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I should be the one leaving, not her,” he muttered, not wanting the baby to hear him.

Coulson stared down at where his daughter was playing a very elaborate game of ‘Captain America saves the world’ with all of her action figures and shrugged. “Skye gets…bored being in one place for too long. She’ll be home soon, she just needs to go do something. She hasn’t been on a real mission since we sent her undercover in the Rising Tide; she needs this.”

Grant sighed, wishing Coulson wouldn’t be so nice to him sometimes. “She’s leaving because of me and we both know it.”

And Coulson respected him enough not to lie to him so they both sat in silence watching Skye’s mini-me run around in her superhero cape just like Skye had twenty-five years ago in the picture sitting on Coulson’s desk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skye was irritated.

Her mission had been a means to escape not…

She groaned as she dumped her things on the hotel bed she’d been sleeping on for the past month. She began angrily shoving her things into a suitcase, not sure if she wanted to go home but knowing she didn’t have a choice.

The hours she’s spent undercover had been nice; she’d been too busy to think. But when she was here, alone at night, with no Fitz or Simmons or baby sister to keep her evenings busy she found herself thinking and reminiscing and daydreaming and well, she wasn’t happy when she realized it always came back to that idiot traitor.

_“Gooooooooooooo horsey!” Stephanie yelled, making Ward charge for Fitz. When they collided into a ball on the floor, she giggled loudly before jumping up and down on Ward’s back, demanding her saddle her back up._

_Trip was buckled over, laughing, and doing his best to help Fitz off of the floor but they both fell to the ground, still laughing._

_“Oh, Stephanie, honey, don’t pull on Grant’s hair, that’s not nice,” Jemma called with a frown. “Poor Ward, shot in the shoulder two days ago and he’s too pious to complain about her using him as her personal pony.”_

_Skye rolled her eyes and returned to her paperwork, totally not peeking up at Ward every few seconds._

_“Come here, love, I’m lonely without you,” Fitz said from the floor, pulling Jemma on top of him for a kiss._

_“Fitz!”_

_“Man, I just ate,” Trip complained as they started with the kissing._

_Stephanie giggled and whispered something to Ward that sounded like ‘you and sissy do that now’ and he shook his head. “But you and Sir Triplett need to save the Avengers from the tower.”_

_“Oh, yes, let’s go Trip-Trip!”_

_“Yunno, if you keep smiling like that someone’s going to catch on to your feelings, Agent Coulson,” Bobbi teased, taking the seat next to her._

_Skye shot her a death glare and continued her report. “Why? Does everyone not know I want him dead yet?”_

_“Keep telling yourself that, Skye.”_

_A loud crash filled the room and Skye looked up to find Ward buried under a pile of books and Stephanie sitting on his chest, trying not to cry as she looked at her red elbow._

_“Jesus Christ, idiot! You don’t know how to keep her safe or something?” Skye snapped, scooping her sister into her arms. “Shh, it’s okay,” Skye insisted, kissing her elbow._

_Hunter’s chuckles filled the room and Skye ignored him. He was an idiot. They were all idiots._

_Stephanie squirmed away from Skye. “No! You’re mean to bubba, I hate you!”_

_Skye’s heart fell and she didn’t put up a fight when her sister jumped out of her arms and ran to Ward._

_“Hey, it’s okay, kiddo,” he whispered as she started crying loudly. “Sister’s just worried about you, you should apologize-”_

_“No!” She screeched loudly, making Lance laugh even harder. For some reason he lived to see Skye’s life being made miserable because Grant Ward existed._

_“What’s so funny, Hunter?” Ward asked, glaring at him._

_“Oh watching Skye pretend she’s not in love with you and you pretend you aren’t heartbroken because she’s not kissing your boo-boos is all.”_

_Skye huffed angrily and began gathering up her things, knowing better than to think she’d get any work done down here. She stopped dead in her tracks when something went flying past her head, hitting Hunter square in the face._

_“YOU BE NICE TO MY SISSY, UNCLE LANCE!”_

_Bobbi hid a laugh behind her hands but it was clear she was proud of the tyke, even if she had given her husband a bloody nose._

_“Sorry, honey, but that’s what you get for being an ass.”_

They’d all gotten reamed out that day for teaching the baby how to say ‘ass’.

And it was the day she’d stopped being able to ignore the fact that the idiot was in love with her because every time she was alone with her baby sister she brought it up.

_“Sissy?”_

_“Yes, pumpkin?”_

_“How come you pretend you don’t like Gwant?”_

_Skye nearly cut her finger open when the knife she was using to make a sandwich slipped in her hand. “What makes you think that?”_

_Stephanie frowned and tapped her bowl of cereal against the table impatiently. “Because, sissy, you look at him like you wanna kiss him but you’re mean to him. I no understand why.”_

_Skye stammered for a moment, not wanting to lie to her but knowing the kid was too young to understand the truth._

So Skye settled on ‘I’ll tell you when you’re older’ which didn’t do much because every chance the kid got she suggested they ‘kissy kissy’ and well…

Now that Skye hadn’t seen his dumb face in awhile some ‘kissy kissy’ didn’t sound so bad. Because every time she closed her eyes she remembered how good he looked with a beard and without a beard and with her baby sister asleep on his chest and it gave her feelings she tried really hard to ignore when she was around him but now that her walls weren’t up twenty four-seven…

Dammit, the kid _maybe_ had a point.

_“What is he doing?” Skye muttered as Superspy rolled up in sunglasses in a suit, in full agent mode, trailing behind Stephanie who was driving around the base in…“Is that a miniature-Lola?”_

_“Damn right it is,” Mack said proudly, holding the remote._

_“She doesn’t get to drive it on her own?” Skye teased to her father’s horror._

_“She’s two! She can’t drive!”_

_Skye averted her eyes, trying not to laugh and when she looked up she met 007’s eyes and for a brief moment she forgot she hated him and smiled. And when he smiled back she remembered Providence and stormed out of the room, remembering all of the reasons why she hated him._

And yes, she had good reasons to hate him but…she had loved him once and the more she saw him being good with her little sister and bonding with her dad the more she remembered that fact.

“Dammit,” Skye muttered, realizing she was going to have to get over herself and forgive him. Maybe she would never love him the way she used to but she had to play nice with him or else Stephanie was going to grow up hating someone and it wouldn’t be Grant Ward.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Stop laughing, Barbara, I look like an idiot.” Hunter grumbled as Bobbi rolled out of her chair, laughing. Skye approached warily, lingering in the doorway where she wouldn’t be seen.

“But you look lovely, darling, doesn’t he Ward?”

Hunter wasn’t the only one who looked like an idiot; Grant Ward sat on the floor, a tiara on his head, feather boa wrapped around his neck, and rings on his fingers in full make-up pouring imaginary tea to a Captain America bear.

“NO! You forgot to add his sugar!” Stephanie screeched, still as demanding now as she was when Skye had left, maybe even more so.

“I am so sorry, Director Coulson, my mistake, here’s a new cup, Captain Rogers.” Grant said seriously and Stephanie nodded her head.

“Very good and Agent Hunter you haven’t finished your tea.”

Hunter rolled his eyes but Bobbi shot him a ‘look’ and he sighed, reaching for the cup, even going as far as putting his pinky out. “Where are my manners?”

Skye slipped away and leaned against the wall with a small smile.

_Her hand reached for his arm and she pulled him against her, pressing her mouth to his. When she pulled away she found him staring down at her, a dumb, stunned look on his face._

_“You said you might die, so what the hell?” Skye replied with a smile._

She really had loved him…

“I wanna play horsey now!”

“Well, I wanna tickle you,” Ward replied and Stephanie’s screeches filled the air followed by giggles and Skye felt the ice around her heart melt as she peeked into the room to find Bobbi and Hunter were gone and Ward was tickling her little sister who was hitting him with her Cap bear.

“I surrender!” He announced, falling onto his back and letting her hit him with her bear one more time before rushing for her tea set.

“Come on! More tea!”

Skye leaned against the doorway with a smile and watched them play, each moment helping her remember she hadn’t always hated him.

_“There will come a moment when you have to commit to this or bail,” Ward barked, leaving Skye close to tears. She knew he thought she was useless, like every other S.O. her mom had forced on her since she’d decided to leave her computer lab and become a real agent. He didn’t take her seriously; she was only here because of her parents, could never be as good as her mother, wasn’t as smart as her father, she couldn’t handle this. She’d heard it all, she just hadn’t expected it from him._

_He stared down at her bruised knuckles with a sigh and reached for the tape. “Every field Agent has a defining moment,” he whispered, his voice soft as he wrapped her hand. When he glanced back up at her, the tears were nowhere to be found but she still felt on the verge of them. “Ask Coulson."_

_Not ‘your father’ not ‘your mother’ but ‘Coulson’._

_Maybe he did take her seriously and if she burst into tears he wouldn’t so she cleared her throat and went for the starting position again, making note not to complain no matter how badly her body ached._

_“And what was yours?” She whispered, wanting to know him just a bit better. They hadn’t liked each other from the moment they’d been assigned to this team; he had a stick up his ass and he thought she didn’t deserve to be here but he was training her and she thought maybe they should at least try to get along._

_“I had a brother who beat the crap out of me and my little brother and I had to learn to protect us the way I am trying to protect_ you _.” The way he said ‘you’ made her wish they were still hitting the punching bag because being this close to him was bad for her. “That was my moment,” he whispered, holding the toy gun up for her. When she stared back at him guiltily he shrugged. “Hey, you asked.”_

_She wanted to kiss him right then and there but instead she turned and moved his arm over her shoulder. “Okay then, again?”_

This was it, Skye realized. This was her moment. The moment when she had to accept she didn’t hate him and hadn’t in a very long time. The moment when she realized she still loved him. The moment when she decided she was committed to fixing what they had because it was worth saving. She was done bailing and she hoped Stevie and her mom and everyone was right about him still being in love with her because Skye didn’t know what she’d do if her own anger had driven him completely away.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Brudder?” Stephanie asked innocently, pouring her Iron Man figure a cup of tea.

“Yes, kiddo?” Grant knew when the kid was up to something and well, she was up to something.

“I wanna ask you something but you promise you no get mad at me?”

Oh boy, she was going to be on this again, wasn’t she?

“Do I ever get mad?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No…but…mommy got mad.” He waited patiently for her to look up at him and nodded for her to continue. “I missed sister so I went in her room and…” Stephanie glanced down at her tea cup guiltily. “I found picture of you and sissy…” She looked up sadly and he didn’t want to know how much she’d had to dig through to find that hidden relic. “How come sister hates you? She looked happy in the picture. And I know you loves her like daddy loves mommy so how come you and sister don’t have a baby like me?”

His heart fell into the pit of his stomach and he knew someone was going to wind up telling her and it was best if it was him. She’d be three soon and she was smart and she wasn’t going to give up. She was a Coulson, always curious about things, and…well, he didn’t want to lie to her.

Grant picked her up and sat her in his lap, knowing she’d probably hate him after this but he wasn’t going to stop loving her and he wanted one last good memory with her.

“A long time ago sister and I were partners-”

“Like mommy and daddy?” She asked eagerly, her eyes perking up.

He smiled and nodded. “Yes, like mommy and daddy and…well, I loved your sister a lot and sometimes I think she loved me too-”

“Did you kiss?” She interrupted and he smiled, trying not to laugh.

He shook his head, wondering how she was so much like Skye, and then nodded. “Yes, we kissed a _lot_.”

Stephanie gasped. “A _lot_?”

“Kiddo do you want me to tell you this story?”

She sat up straight and serious, like her mother and nodded. “Continue!”

He ruffled her hair and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. “Anyway…we were…” No, they were never happy because it was always a lie and he’d been blind enough to think they could be together without her ever finding out the truth. “I did a very bad thing, kiddo…things…I did bad things.”

She frowned and sat up to kiss his cheek. “It’s okay, brudder, mommy says everyone does bad things and daddy says as long as you know it’s bad and you try really, really hard not to be bad you can be good again.”

He smiled to keep from crying. “Yeah, something like that,” he whispered, his voice breaking. He wished Skye was as understanding as her baby sister but he knew he didn’t deserve her forgiveness. He knew John was mostly responsible for the things he’d done but he still felt the weight of his actions every single day. She was right to hate him.

“So you did bad things and made sister sad?”

He nodded, knowing he’d have to expand on those bad things someday but he wasn’t going to explain Hydra to a child.

She shrugged and threw her little arms up defeated. “How come you no tell sister you’re sorry and you love her?”

“I’ve tried, kiddo, but she’d still mad at me and it’s okay for her to be mad, you got that? I hurt your sister and it’s okay for her to hate me, I don’t want you to be mad at her because of me, got it?” He’d never forget the day she told Skye she hated her; it had broken his heart. He didn’t want his bond with mini-Skye to destroy their relationship.

She sighed in exasperation. “But sister loves you too, Grant! You’re both too stupid to see it!”

He blinked in surprise, knowing she was smart but not that smart. “Who told you that?”

She groaned, reminding him of her mother. “Daddy! Duh! He told mommy sister is a stubborn ass and you’re too dumb to see she’s mad at you because she loves you.”

Grant ran a hand over his face, wishing Bobbi hadn’t run off with Hunter. He needed help before he said something stupid.

“Uh…kiddo…this is really between me and Skye and…um…Jesus Christ…how about I take you for ice cream and we’ll forget about this?”

Stephanie hopped off of his lap with a huff and strolled over to her toys indignantly, picking up Cap and dragging him back with her. “I do not take bribes, mister! You are gonna go say ‘sorry’ to sister and then you are going to kiss her and make babies because I want cousins!” She ordered, poking him in the chest.

“But she’s gone?” He answered lamely, having yet to master the art of telling a demanding toddler ‘no’.

“I don’t care! You tell daddy you are gonna ‘man up’ like mommy says you need to do and we are gonna take Lola!”

He moved to his feet, wondering how someone so tiny was basically shoving him out of the room. “Stephanie, even if I get Skye to talk to me she’s not going to forgive me; there won’t be any cousins made and technically you’d be their aunt-”

Stephanie placed both hands on her hips and stared him down. “Go! Now!”

“Fine! I’m going!” He turned and began muttering about how it was a good thing he and Skye were never going to be together because he didn’t know if he could handle that child when he bumped right into Skye.

He stared down at her like an idiot, his face red, and realized she’d probably heard at least part of their conversation and he suddenly wished he was very, very dead because being six feet under would be better than being put further into her doghouse.

“In a hurry to get somewhere, princess?”

“Um I was just going to-princess?”

She was speaking to him? And smiling? And why was she standing so close to him?

Skye took a step forward, still smirking and reach up to take the tiara off of his head. “I hope you’re not on your way to a beauty pageant or a coronation,” she teased and he remembered how he was dressed and he was mortified.

“No I was um…”

“On your way to tell me you love me and say you’re sorry and all that jazz?”

He swallowed nervously and looked around for help but the only one around was the toddler who was grinning smugly, clutching her bear to her chest.

“Yes?” He squeaked, his eyes returning to Skye’s. “How much did you hea-”

“Everything,” she replied with a smirk, her hands now on his boa, slipping it off so she could take hold of his shirt. His heart began to race and when she glanced up again, her eyes filled with mischief he forgot how to breathe. “And I hate to admit it but my dad’s always right,” she muttered as she moved to stand on her toes.

Before he could stammer a response Skye’s lips were on his and he began to feel faint and sick at the same time. Skye was…and he was…and she was…wait? She was kissing him and he was standing there like an idiot wondering why?

Who cared?

Skye was _kissing_ him.

Grant pulled her closer and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to kiss her for years and in a way that was probably not appropriate with their audience but the moment Skye was in his arms he forgot about the world existing outside of their little bubble.

“Wait, did you just say you love me?” Grant muttered pathetically as their kiss broke.

Skye rolled her eyes and pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Well, I do have really shitty taste in men, so,” she shrugged and he smiled, leaning in for another kiss.

“That’s a bad word, Skye,” Stephanie said with a huff.

They glanced over to find her watching them and Grant remembered she was still in the room.

“We should find your parents,” he muttered, knowing he wanted to be alone with his…wait, was she his girlfriend again?

“Yes, let’s, you have some apologizing to do that can only be done in private,” Skye muttered, kissing his cheek before heading for her sister.

“No! Keep kissing! I want you to have babies!” She ordered as she rushed off towards the kitchen. “TRIP! SKYEWARD IS BACK ON! WHERE ARE THE FLYING PIGS YOU PROMISED ME?”

Skye’s mouth fell open as she struggled to process what a little shit her mini-me was and Grant was already used to it so he began cleaning the make-up off of his face with a paper towel.

“Did she get more like me while I was gone?” Skye asked, stunned.

“Yes, someone had to make up the lack of pain in everyone’s asses-oww!” He cried when Skye pinched his side in annoyance. Before she could run from him he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer, brushing the hair out of her face. “Hey.”

Skye smirked. “Hey.”

“So…you love me?”

“Yeah? So what, you loved me first.”

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her again and this time they didn’t have to come up for air until after they’d somehow wound up on the sofa with her on top of him doing things that would scar the baby if she came back around.

Grant slid a hand up her back, moving it into her hair and did his best to control his voice while she attacked his neck with her mouth. “So…I am sorry, you know?”

“Uh huh, apologies later, right now I need you to take off your-”

He cut her off with a kiss and pulled away to meet her eyes. “I mean it; shouldn’t we talk first?”

Skye sighed and messed with her hair to keep her hands busy. “Grant, you spent the last hour letting my sister dress you up, order you around, all with a smile on your face; I think you’ve made up for the past. And I heard you talking to her…and…well, before that I’d already made up my mind and now…” she shrugged. “We’ll work on it; I know I’ve been…well, I was mad because I loved you so much and…” he cupped her cheek and Skye pulled away from him and he could see she was close to tears. “I don’t want to be mad at you anymore and I’m going to try, okay? I can’t promise we’re going to be fine but I want to try because I love you and I know you love me and when I see you with Stevie it does things to me and I don’t want to miss out on us being happy someday because I didn’t even try to forgive you.”

Grant pulled her close and hugged her, burying his face in her hair and doing his best not to grin like an idiot. She loved him and she was giving him a chance and oh crap he was going to have to buy the kid a lot of presents as a ‘thank you’.

“So…these ‘things’ that seeing me with a baby do to you…do they involve us doing that thing that makes babi-oww!” He cried as Skye smacked him but he could see her smiling behind her hands. She shook her head and stood, reaching for his hand.

“Come on, Superspy, there’s something I’ve been looking forward to,” she whispered suggestively, leading him out of the room.

Grant wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck happily. “Me apologizing in private?”

Skye grabbed his collar with a smirk and shook her head. “No, you promised a little girl ice cream and I’m starving,” she whispered with a wink before disappearing into the kitchen.

Grant stared after her with a pout, only wanting ice cream if he got to eat it off of her. “But…” he whine before sighing, knowing he was going to have to work for ‘alone time’ and followed her with a pout. “Fine, but I want an extra scoop.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll bring home a pint for _later_ ,” Skye whispered into his ear, appearing behind him and kissing his cheek before scooping up her sister and letting Trip wrap an arm around her. She glanced back at him with a wink and he followed blindly, wondering when he’d wake up from this amazing dream.

“Can you be in his bunk tonight…I don’t have time to soundproof-dammit, Skye! That hurt!” Skye smirked as Trip rubbed his arm and Stephanie berated him about his language.

Grant and Skye’s hands found one another and when he gazed down at her smiling up at him he realized that his wish had finally come true and with a bonus; the little girl who was now hanging around his neck who would get them ready for his new wish to come true.

“So…Trip, did you know Stevie here wants me and Skye to make her an auntie?”

“Oh yeah? I’ve got twenty it happens before she’s five.”

“I am going to enjoy taking your money Trip because I don’t think we can control ourselves for that long.”

“In your dreams, Ward,” Skye muttered with a shake of her head.

Grant pulled Skye closer and kissed her temple. “Already had one dream come true, I can wait for this one.”

And when Skye leaned up to kiss him, muttering that he was an ‘idiot’, he was sure this was the happiest he’d ever been in his entire life.


End file.
